It depends on how you brood them as regards food. If it was with a broody hen, it would snuggle underneath her and sleep all night and eat through the day, but if you use a heat lamp, many people leave food and water available 24/7 and the chick will eat and drink whenever it feels like it and the crop may not ever empty because it is constantly being topped up...... in my opinion this may not be good for the crop in later life.... it may lose some of it's elasticity by being constantly full.
Heater plates or Mama Heating Pads (MHP) are a better way to artificially raise chicks in my opinion, as it simulates a broody hen better than a heat lamp and the chick gets used to a natural day/night routine from the start. The chick will snuggle under the pad in the dark at night and come out to eat when there is enough light to see. There is also less chance of the chick suffering from pasty butt etc because the food and water are not being heated by the heat lamp, as heat is more confined to under the heat pad, rather than a lamp heating up half the brooder.
Heater plates or Mama Heating Pads (MHP) are a better way to artificially raise chicks in my opinion, as it simulates a broody hen better than a heat lamp and the chick gets used to a natural day/night routine from the start. The chick will snuggle under the pad in the dark at night and come out to eat when there is enough light to see. There is also less chance of the chick suffering from pasty butt etc because the food and water are not being heated by the heat lamp, as heat is more confined to under the heat pad, rather than a lamp heating up half the brooder.
